Billy Hall, who graduated in 2002, won the 400 intermediate
hurdles at the Coast Conference track and field championships at
West Valley College last Saturday.
Billy Hall, who graduated in 2002, won the 400 intermediate hurdles at the Coast Conference track and field championships at West Valley College last Saturday.
Hall ran the event in 55.3 seconds to be the second-place finisher by nearly a second. The time qualifies him to race in the NorCal qualifiers this weekend at Merritt College in Oakland.
The freshman has continued to overcome obstacles. Hall, who was injured in his junior year at Live Oak in football, still wanted to compete. So he tried out for the track and field team. Track coach Dean Raymond encouraged Hall to try out for the hurdle events, which he quickly mastered.
Raymond continued to mentor Hall through his senior year, in which he became the Monterey Bay League champion in the 110 high hurdles and took second in the league in the 300 intermediate hurdles.
Hall transferred from the University of West Virginia and got off to a slow start. He started off in the high hurdles, which are 42 inches high as opposed to the 39 inches in high school. After breaking his arm on the high hurdles, the coaches had him concentrate on the 400s.
“We usually like to condition in the fall, but he came to us later in the year,” said hurdles coach Rich Roesky. “He has gotten stronger as the season has progressed. He is great competitive athlete. If he continues to improve, hopefully he can drop another second off his time.”
